Writings on the color and beauty of the world, and the days of my life

Monthly Archives: March 2012

I had a fun get-together today with another Charlotte native who has just moved here from Nigeria. We met through Etsy; she saw my Aso Oke fabrics and messaged me to say hello. Her curiosity was peaked by my collection, since she also has a vintage textile collection. We had a fun get-together and shared our beads, fabrics, travel stories, and fascination with the world. I hope that she might be able to bring me some more textiles when she returns from her next trip back to Nigeria.

The beaded aprons (pictured above and below) are some of the pieces that she brought with her today. Aren’t the incredible? These would be worn by men, but likely beaded by women. I have a recent fascination with seed bead work. In my own jewelry designs I like to make and work with big beads. I don’t have the patience for little beads; I think there is something of an affinity for instant gratification. Seed bead work seems to take so loooong! So I am fascinated by people who do have this gift of patience.

A photograph doesn’t do these justice, but does its best to capture some of their beauty. Enjoy, until next time.

Namaste blog readers. I’m here to give this blogging idea another shot. I love the idea of a blog; I’m a huge fan of words- reading and writing them. But there are 2 main reasons that it didn’t seem to work out for me before:

1. I have a hard time making timespace that it takes to keep up a blog.

2. I have my hand in a lot of pots, so there are lots of steady themes in my life- so many that it’s hard to focus on just one. One day I am a web manager, one day a product photographer, one day a bookeeper, one day a jewelry designer, one day a sales rep. On all days I am a mother to my precious golden retriever Finn, wife to my larger-than-life husband Binny, a yogini, a creative thinker and a positive soul efforting to maintain a connection to the source.

So the creative voice inside of me had a brainstorm. It thought, “why are you turning these into obstacles?” With the emergence of so many “time-saving” social networking apps out there (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), there are so many ways to publish a thou

ght, or a picture, or a snippet of life, from wherever I am. Reason #1 is no longer an obstacle.

And to Reason #2, I thought: Why am I creating a boundary within which my blog entries must fall? I am the energy behind all that I do, it’s all a part of my life, it is what consumes my days. Beads, papers, Finny and Binny, yoga, jewelry, fabric, etsy, Divali Glass Jewelry, Bead Trust, Beads Forever, traveling, family, friends, bead shows….. Why can’t all of it be a part of the blog?

So as my grandfather, Art, would have said in one of his vacation videos, “Here we are, Lavinia!” (Lavinia is my grandmother). And here we are, at the new WomanShopsWorld Blog. For those of you who don’t know, I run a shop onetsy called “WomanShopsWorld.” It’s

a beautifully colorful collection of things that I find on our travels, and sometimes in the corners of our warehouse. I have an affinity for all things colorful, all things handmade, all things adorned; and I have a fascination with the vast cultures and peoples of the world. The world is way too large for me to stay in one spot. So I travel (both physically and mentally, via books and the internet) to have my mind, my eyes, my thoughts, my loves, expanded. WomanShopsWorld is my space where I share the things I love with the rest of the world.

And this blog will be the space where I will share my thoughts and ramblings. Maybe you will find them remarkable enough that you will come back from time to time and share in my musings.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our last India trip

Namaste blog readers. I’m here to give this blogging idea another shot. I love the idea of a blog; I’m a huge fan of words- reading and writing them. But there are 2 main reasons that it didn’t seem to work out for me before:

1. I have a hard time making timespace that it takes to keep up a blog.

2. I have my hand in a lot of pots, so there are lots of steady themes in my life- so many that it’s hard to focus on just one. One day I am a web manager, one day a product photographer, one day a bookeeper, one day a jewelry designer, one day a sales rep. On all days I am a mother to my precious golden retriever Finn, wife to my larger-than-life husband Binny, a yogini, a creative thinker and a positive soul efforting to maintain a connection to the source.

So the creative voice inside of me had a brainstorm. It thought, “why are you turning these into obstacles?” With the emergence of so many “time-saving” social networking apps out there (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), there are so many ways to publish a thou

ght, or a picture, or a snippet of life, from wherever I am. Reason #1 is no longer an obstacle.

And to Reason #2, I thought: Why am I creating a boundary within which my blog entries must fall? I am the energy behind all that I do, it’s all a part of my life, it is what consumes my days. Beads, papers, Finny and Binny, yoga, jewelry, fabric, etsy, Divali Glass Jewelry, Bead Trust, Beads Forever, traveling, family, friends, bead shows….. Why can’t all of it be a part of the blog?

So as my grandfather, Art, would have said in one of his vacation videos, “Here we are, Lavinia!” (Lavinia is my grandmother). And here we are, at the new WomanShopsWorld Blog. For those of you who don’t know, I run a shop on etsy called “WomanShopsWorld.” It’s

a beautifully colorful collection of things that I find on our travels, and sometimes in the corners of our warehouse. I have an affinity for all things colorful, all things handmade, all things adorned; and I have a fascination with the vast cultures and peoples of the world. The world is way too large for me to stay in one spot. So I travel (both physically and mentally, via books and the internet) to have my mind, my eyes, my thoughts, my loves, expanded. WomanShopsWorld is my space where I share the things I love with the rest of the world.

And this blog will be the space where I will share my thoughts and ramblings. Maybe you will find them remarkable enough that you will come back from time to time and share in my musings.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our last India trip.